


Two Years Later

by Netflix118



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kinda panic attack ?, M/M, Parkner Week 2019, Prom, parkner, this is a lot of projection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 02:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20284087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Netflix118/pseuds/Netflix118
Summary: they weren’t afraid to blur the lines a little. It wasn’t uncommon to see the two holding hands at football games or hugging goodbye after a shift. Peter was often found laying across Harley’s lap in the library as they read or researched, and the brunette had a fair share of the blond’s sweatshirts. They did everything that couples did, but they never actually made any moves to become a couple.ORThey're in love and Harley has a breakdown at prom





	Two Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally for parkner week, but I fell so far behind because of work and school and stuff that I never got a chance to actually finish it im so sORRY
> 
> anyway,, this is kinda dedicated to my girlfriend so ,,, <3  
Enjoy, ladies and lizards!!

Harley Keener and Peter Parker worked together. They were waiters at a diner in the middle of their town, and they were damn good waiters too. Especially when they were together, which lead to their manager putting their shifts together constantly. And when you work with someone constantly, there's a really high chance that you’ll become best friends with said person, and it seemed that Peter and Harley had fallen for that chance. The pair was inseparable, by their third week of knowing each other. Both at work and at school, if you saw one, the other was almost guaranteed to be there. It was just how it worked. But no one truly knew what to think of them. Peter was gay, he had come out a few years back. But Harley was newer to the area, having only lived there for about a year, and everyone assumed him straight, including Peter. And that's just how it was.  
But they weren’t afraid to blur the lines a little. It wasn’t uncommon to see the two holding hands at football games or hugging goodbye after a shift. Peter was often found laying across Harley’s lap in the library as they read or researched, and the brunette had a fair share of the blond’s sweatshirts. Harley would save Peter from awkwardly flirting teenage girls during work by walking by and casually squeezing his butt, to which Peter would giggle or smirk at in his silent thanks. They’d go see movies together and go out to dinner and get late-night ice cream. They did everything that couples did, but they never actually made any moves to become a couple.   
It got to the point that their friends even began to coin them as a couple, which neither of them truly disapproved of. Honestly, they each secretly liked it. It was like making a move, but not having to solidify anything. And pretending was nice.   
But, to both of their disappointment, they never were anything. Yet, that didn’t stop them from going to prom together. And getting really excited together. And spending the entire night before with each other, then the entire day together.  
That actually very well could have been the best sleepover the two had ever had. Peter had come over to Harley’s house well prepared, with a bag full of facemasks and snacks and energy drinks and everything else two boys could possibly need to get ready for prom.   
There was already a movie playing in the basement, where Harley had set up a comfortable area, complete with popcorn and two air mattresses pressed together to make up a giant bed that took up most of the floor. The blond was dressed in plain, baggy sweatpants and one of Peter’s shirts, which was a little tighter on him than anything he usually wore, but of course, Peter didn’t mind one bit. He arrived in Adidas sweatpants that Mr. Stark had given him when he started spending the night at the tower, and one of Harley’s old sweatshirts. They were almost a perfect match. Ironic.  
Only minutes later, the two found themselves sprawled out on the mattresses, trying to figure out how to use a clay mask and a sheet mask individually, as a trippy movie based around the Beatles played in the background.   
“I think- no but that doesn’t make sense. Is there supposed to be a part that goes on my chin?” Harley asked, spitting out the nose-flap on his mask, which landed disturbingly in his mouth.   
“I think you have it on wrong,” Peter responded, his usually pale complexion covered in an orange-red goo, which was slowly drying. “You- here.” He pulled the mask off of the blond and had him lay back so he could put it on correctly. He hovered over him as he relaxed into the mound of pillows, and slowly put the cold mask onto his face, properly this time. After it was settled, he ran a gentle hand through his blond curls, just to make sure none of them got in the mask, and if he had any less self-control, Peter would have fucked up the friendship right then and there. Harley just looked so relaxed and beautiful, even with the strange purple sheen over his freckled skin. After a couple of seconds, his bright blue eyes were staring up at Peter, and if he was thinking any less straight, he would have said there was a glimmer of hope in them.   
But instead, Peter rolled off the mattress, completely eliminating any opportunity for anything awkward to happen. It was bad enough that Harley caught him staring like that.   
The night continued on like nothing happened, with Peter making a loud comment about how strange the movie was, which brought Harley’s attention to the suddenly naked people on the screen.   
“Holy shi- what did we miss?” He exclaimed, making a slow effort towards the remote on the other side of the mattress.   
“I can’t tell if they’re actually supposed to be on drugs, or if they’re trying to make this symbolism, honestly,” Peter responded, looking shocked, despite his limited facial movement, as he laid against the far side of the beds.   
“Maybe. God- what the fuck..?” Harley asked, grabbing the remote, but making no move to change it yet. “So they’re.. Wait. I thought that guy got drafted earlier! Why is he swimming with them? Didn’t he have a whole song about that?”   
“Yeah, but he’s draft-dodging, I think..” Peter said, taking a piece of popcorn that had fallen onto a blanket near them.   
This debate continued for the rest of the movie, with more added confusion as every new trippy scene came in front of them. It was concluded that “This movie makes absolutely no sense, and I don’t think I can even watch it sober,” as declared by Harley.   
The next portion of the night was filled with some fantastic renditions of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, accompanied by just as amazing dance moves. It wasn’t until later in the night that they found themselves surrounded by darkness, murmuring tiredly along to Taylor Swift, that things started to pick up.   
“Do you know how to slow dance?” Harley asked, instantly earning Peter’s attention. He shook his head, looking over at the sleepy blond. “Me neither..” he murmured back, standing up and stretching his hands above his head before offering a hand down to the younger boy. “Should probably figure it out before tomorrow night, though..”  
Peter hesitantly took his hand, but a smile grew on his lips as Harley effortlessly pulled him closer. Like this was just something they did.   
“Kay.. I think you’ve gotta put your hands here..” He whispered, guiding his hands softly around his shoulders. “Then, if you’re okay with it, I put mine here..”   
He softly wrapped an arm around his back, pulling him so they were chest to chest, then placed his right hand on his hip. Peter’s breath hitched, causing Harley to pull it back for a second.   
“No.. it's good. Your hands just... Cold..” he lied, casting his eyes downward.   
“Okay.. I can put it somewhere else if you want?”   
Peter quickly shook his head, keeping his eye contact elsewhere in fear of doing something stupid. So Harley put his hand back on his hip and began to sway them softly side to side. After a couple of seconds, the brunette found himself relaxing onto him, his head finding a safe place on his chest. The older boy let out a soft breath, a smile appearing on his lips. He absentmindedly started to whisper the lyrics as he closed his eyes, and Peter could have sworn that they were just for him in that moment. 

The next day seemed to fly by in a flash; the next thing Peter remembers, he’s fixing the collar of Harley’s tux before they pose for Tony and Aunt May’s pictures. Harley looked down at him and chuckles and gives him this smile that makes the world around him practically melt away.   
From there, they’re off in Harley’s car, blasting the I Got a Feeling. 

The dance went wonderfully. The two had hung out in the corner with MJ and Ned for the majority of it, snacking on the food that was sitting on the tables and making fun of other people who were obviously more interested in dancing and grinding than anyone in their group. They had noticed how close Harley and Peter were sitting, but no one wanted to point it out. So they didn’t.   
Until a good two hours into the dance. Everyone had wandered off to do their own thing, MJ dancing with a girl who asked her, Ned finally finding Betty and sneaking out with her for a little while, and Peter was hanging out on the dancefloor with someone that Harley had never seen before. The guy was attractive, well dressed, and apparently hilarious, based off of how hard Peter was laughing at whatever he was saying. And Harley found himself sitting at the table, absolutely fuming. It didn’t make sense, though. Peter wasn’t his. He had no reason to give for wanting to keep the younger boy to himself. But he had this feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched the two dance and flirt. God- he just wanted that smile to himself. This was a shocking thought for the blonde, but at this point, he was far too goddamn angry to realize the implications. But it wasn’t fair! Peter wasn’t allowed to get a boyfriend! He didn’t actually know why he felt like that (or realistically, didn’t want to admit why), but he knew that it was something that he felt to be very true. He was caught up in his angry staring until MJ finally cleared her throat, letting him know that he wasn’t alone.   
“So.. what happened between you and lover boy?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing around for the younger.   
Harley just shook his head in response, not even wanting to look up and see how much fun Peter was probably having. God, this was annoying.  
“What- you two break up?” She poked, making Harley realize that she wasn’t planning on leaving until she got an answer. He shook his head again, abruptly standing up.   
“You think I know?! He’s off with whats-his-face out there and fucking- sorry, MJ, but I don’t know shit right now,” He suddenly hissed at her, his face turning a soft red with anger and fear and embarrassment. “God- this is such bullshit!” Without realizing what he was doing, the blonde rushed out of the auditorium, muttering angry apologies to the people he bumped into.   
He was soon leaning against a lamp post outside, allowing the cold to wash over him. It was refreshing, almost. Like it gave him a chance to finally breathe. It was cold enough to see his breath, which meant he probably should have grabbed his jacket before he stormed out, but apparently his enraged brain wasn’t thinking of that. But that was okay. It was something to focus on, other than the fact that he was about to start crying at any moment. God- this was so frustrating! Everyone else seemed to know he was in love with Peter, and yet no one bothered to tell him the news. The only thing was that he wasn’t gay. There was obviously nothing wrong with gay people; his best friend was gay! But he wasn’t, even if his brain was giving him overwhelming evidence that he might be a little.   
True, he hadn’t had a girlfriend in years or even found any girls remotely interesting. But he really hadn’t been interested in anyone in the past year or so, ever since he started hanging around Peter. But he wasn’t gay. He was positive about that. He couldn’t be!  
“Harles?”   
His thoughts were suddenly ripped from his head as his eyes shot open. Fuck. He didn’t respond, verbally, at least, but of course, Peter knew it was him.   
“Hey.. What just happened in there? I saw you run into Linsy and MJ said you just kinda ran away suddenly..”  
God, he sounded so concerned. It all but melted Harley’s heart. He honestly had no idea what to say to him. ‘Yeah, sorry Pete. I just saw you with that other guy on the dancefloor and I realized that I might have been in love with you for years.’  
Instead, he just huffed out a breath and shoved his hands further into his pocket. It was fine, he was fine.   
“Harles..” Peter said, softer this time. He took a careful step forward, causing the light from above to cascade over his concerned expression. His dark eyes were wide and worried as he studied his best friend, desperate to figure out what went so suddenly wrong. “I wanna know what’s going on inside your mind.”  
The older boy nearly broke right then and there as he heard how soft his voice was. God. He slid down and sat on the cold concrete, his back against the lamp post still. He shook his head, realizing that at this point, he was just being rude for not replying. The younger boy moved to sit next to him, close, but not too close. But Harley wanted him closer. He wanted him right next to him. He wanted his arms wrapped around him because he feels safe like that. Like there's nothing in the world that could hurt him when he’s in Peter’s arms. But he’s never going to say any of that.   
Instead, apparently, his brain is going to let him start sobbing, which shocked both himself and Peter. The brunette looked over at him suddenly as he heard the sob escape his throat, and his look of concern nearly doubled in the emotions portrayed. He reached a shaky hand out to him, just trying to figure out what type of comfort he needed at the moment, and it was all Harley could do not to just collapse on him.  
He took his hand and squeezed it as he tried to breathe. There were too many thoughts, too many emotions. What if he was gay? Had he been lying to himself and everyone he knew and loved and cared about for so many years? Would Peter hate him because he thinks he’s faking it? Oh, shit... Peter. It was like he had hit the eye of the storm as soon as Peter entered his thoughts. It was always like that, though, wasn’t it? Peter always cleared out the bad thoughts or the bad feelings or the bad things and made everything better. He made him feel safe and comfortable and loved. He always had the right thing to say; he could get him from crying to laughing in seconds flat; he could drag him out of a bed-ridden depressive state with one phone call. It was always Peter…   
How had he been so blind? Or stupid? It was him. It had always been him.   
He was suddenly dragged back to reality by the feeling of the younger boy’s arms wrapped tightly around him. He was whispering something between ‘shushes', too, though Harley couldn’t quite figure out what it was, exactly.   
Shit. Oh shit-god, he had ruined their prom night now, too. He ruined it with his stupid thoughts and emotions and sudden sexuality awakenings. He started fumbling out apologies, attempting to roll out of Peter’s arms, but the boy just tightened his grip and continued his whispering. It was then that Harley could finally start to make sense of anything other than the feeling of being held.   
“You’re okay, Harles. You don’t have-shhh, shhh, it's okay. You don’t have to apologize, sugar. It's okay... I’m right here,” he whispered over his apologies, one of his hands dipping to softly draw circles on his back.   
More details came back into focus, and he realized that he was now curled up, his upper body resting on Peter’s chest. The younger boy was smarter than he was, as well, so the two had his coat draped over them to shield them from the cold. But what he noticed last was the little bits of pressure on top of his head every once in a while, when Peter would stop talking. It took him a second, but he realized that between every couple of seconds, the boy would press a soft kiss to his messy hair, before going right back to his reassurances.   
And at that, he nearly lost it again.   
“Peter..” he whispered, knowing his voice would probably be too wrecked to sound good at any other volume level. The younger boy just looked down at him, stopping his words, but continuing every other action.   
“I think I’m gay..”   
Peter didn’t stop drawing circles on his back. His breath didn’t catch, and he didn’t say anything. It was almost like he didn’t hear anything at all, which is what Harley thought at first. He was considering repeating himself, but before he could, Peter pressed another small kiss to his head, this time a little longer.   
“That's okay,” he whispered back. No ‘I know.’ No ‘are you sure? All the sudden?’ No snarky or worried or annoyed responses. Just reassurance. Harley nodded softly, letting the words ring through his thoughts for a second. It was okay. It was like another wall came down as the words processed through his head, and he glanced up at his best friend, and the boy was smiling. God damn smiling! That perfect, reassuring, validating, charming, loving, beautiful little smile. Fuck.   
“I think… that I’m in love with you.”  
This time there was a reaction. He could hear Peter’s breath stop for a second but felt his arms grow a little tighter around him. Harley cast his gaze back to the ground they were sitting on, not wanting to see that smile fade.   
“That's okay..” he heard again. Great. What the hell did that mean? He shook his head and waited for Peter to let him go and tell him that he would be spending the night with Hotty-McHotFace from inside tonight, and that he was sorry for crushing Harley’s dreams.   
But that didn’t happen. Instead, Peter pressed another kiss to the top of his head and continued to draw circles on his back- or maybe they weren’t circles. They didn’t feel like circles anymore… Maybe they were penises. “Are you sure?”  
Harley had never been more sure of anything in his life. He was more certain of this than he was that they were breathing oxygen. But he didn’t have the brain cells to explain this to Peter right now, so he just nodded against his chest.   
“Cool..” Peter whispered in response, at it was then that Harley realized the penises were actually little hearts. Shit…  
“Cool?” Harley asked, closing his eyes and relaxing a little. At least he knew he wouldn’t leave him right now.   
“Real cool.”   
Well.. What the hell did this mean? It seemed like both the boys were thinking the same thing, but neither of them wanted to make the first move. And all Harley wanted to do, suddenly, was to feel Peter’s lips. But not just that; that made it sound like this would be a one-time thing. He wanted more than just to kiss him. He wanted to hold him and dance with him and, overall, just call him his. To put away all the emotions, most of which he now recognizes as jealousy, and just get to call him his own. His boyfriend…  
“Do… do you wanna dance?” Peter asked nervously, his voice shaking a little. The question was simple, but there was obviously so much more behind it.   
Before he could think about it, Harley was shaking his head and rolling off of the boy’s chest. There was literally nothing in this world that he wanted more than to go and dance with this boy. He stood up and brushed himself off a little, before offering his hand to help Peter up, which he gratefully took. But he didn’t let go after he was standing; he actually adjusted his grip to keep their fingers laced together as he slowly walked towards the entrance again. 

Yes, the room was crowded and loud, and it seemed like there wasn’t any room left on the dancefloor for the two, but at the moment, it seemed like it was just their dance. The two found a spot in the far corner, back past the photo booth, where the blue and purple and silver tule used to decorate was starting to fall, and the balloons gathered after being kicked around. It was what seemed to be the last empty spot in the whole room, and was made just for them. Peter found himself with his head laying on Harley’s chest, one of his arms wrapped around his torso, and the other still holding his hand tightly, like if he let go, this would all be a dream. Harley had his chin on top of Peter’s curls and his eyes closed as he held Peter close to him. The pair swayed softly together as the slow music echoed through the auditorium of teenagers, and it felt like heaven. Thinking about Peter’s earlier actions, Harley pressed a soft kiss to Peter’s head, and it just felt so overwhelmingly right. Apparently, Peter felt the same way. After his lips left the top of his head, Peter looked up at him, his brown eyes nearly double their regular size, and returned the action. Before either of them could completely process what was happening, their lips were pressed softly together.   
To Peter, it felt like everything was right and true and good, at long last. Like he had waited his entire life to feel the pressure of his best friend’s soft lips against him. And it felt like they were the only people in the world.  
Harley, on the other hand, feels like fireworks are coming from the butterflies in his stomach. It was the same feeling as getting into bed after an insanely long day. Like everything in the damn world stopped and focused solely on the tiny kiss that Peter was pressing to his lips. Like it was what he needed for so damn long, all without knowing it.   
And the good thing about it was that neither members of the party ever wanted those feelings to stop. Peter pulled back after a second, looking up at him with worry tracing his eyes, just to make sure everything was okay, but was just met by Harley’s baby blue eyes nearly glowing from happiness and excitement. Okay- okay. Everything was all good, for both of them. Better than good, honestly. It was perfect.   
But Harley’s lips still felt like they were on fire, and he wanted to feel all of that again. So, he ducked down and captured Peter’s lips again, keeping the soft pace of everything, despite the excitement and relief and love coursing through his veins at the moment. This was just like the first time, but more. There was sudden comfort behind it, with hints of love and need. But it was still soft and full of tiny explosions. Just how they both wanted it. 

The night went on with no one questioning where they had disappeared for 30 minutes to, why they were suddenly smooching on the dancefloor, or why the two literally couldn’t leave each other alone. It was a pretty cute sight, though, honestly.   
Around midnight, the crew all said goodnight, took their final pictures, and went their separate ways- Ned and Betty heading quickly to the car with promises of a good night before she had to drop him off, MJ on her way home to watch some new movie she was excited about, and Harley and Peter driving slowly back to Harley’s house.   
To be honest, they were both a little nervous. Yes, admitting your love at prom and kissing in the corner while slow dancing was one thing, but actually going back to spend the night with one another was a whole different ballgame, which they were both pretty nervous about. But it was okay. They were best friends too, no matter what.   
When they got to the house, the lights were all off and the rooms were silent, which meant that the boys had the house to themselves for the night. Instinctually, they sleepily bounded down the stairs to the basement, where their mattresses were still set up from the night before, the sheets still a mess with their things strewn everywhere; just what they needed at the moment.   
Harley shrugged his suit jacket off and laid it over the arm of the couch, before loosening his tie and kicking off his shoes. The entire time, he tried to avoid eye contact with Peter, who seemed to be doing the same thing. The room was a deafening silence, filled with questions too awkward to ask. The blonde continued to get himself ready for bed, eventually turning his back to Peter to exchange his button-up shirt for a baggy sweatshirt. He glanced back at the younger boy, his own cheeks were painted a light pink.   
“I’m uh.. I’m gonna go put shorts on..” he whispered awkwardly, earning a nod as he picked up his shorts from the bed and walked into the bathroom.  
After brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas in record time, he walked back out to find his best friend in his pajama pants (the Hello Kitty ones the two got as a joke last Christmas), one of Harley’s t-shirts, and a very messed up tie. A small laugh escaped his lips as he looked over how ridiculous- and perfect- his best friend looked. Harley took a step towards him, a smile falling onto his expression.   
“You need some help, Petey?” He asked, already reaching for the tie. Peter just nodded softly, already pouting a little. God, what a dork.   
Harley reached forward and grabbed the tie, unconsciously pulling Peter a little closer with it. He started working at the knots the boy had created, looking more focus than he meant to; he realistically was just trying not to focus on how damn close he was to those perfect lips, and how easily he could just look up a little, lean forward, and-  
And they were kissing again. This time, all of the feelings that came with them were more relaxed, just validating that this was what was supposed to be happening.   
After he realized what was happening, the older boy pulled back, almost scared of the younger’s response, which he soon learns he shouldn’t be. Peter nearly chased after him after he pulled away, then looked up at him sadly for a second. Harley could practically see the wheels turning in his head, which caused him to smile.   
Peter’s expression went from sad to confused to relieved all within a couple of seconds time as he saw his best friend’s smile. Okay. Maybe everything was okay after all…   
“I want…” He started, suddenly trailing off as he realized he had no clue how to finish his sentence.  
Harley raised an eyebrow as he subtly pulled the tie off of his neck, letting it drop to the floor. “You want..?”   
Peter huffed a sigh and nodded, stepping a little closer to lay his head on the taller boy’s chest, already wrapping his arms around his torso. Harley, as though at instinct, wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and kept him close.   
“I want to do that all the time. Any time. I really like kissing you. And it’s not like kissing other boys. I just… I want… to have that… constantly..” He was silently thankful that his face was hidden in his best friend’s chest because his cheeks were probably flaming red.   
Harley let out a breathy laugh, looking down and placing a gentle kiss to his messy hair.   
“Are you trying to ask me out, Petey?” He whispered, holding him a little tighter. He felt him nod against his chest, and suddenly his heart was racing a million miles an hour. Holy shit- okay, yes. He had dramatically confessed his love to him like, two hours before, and they kept kissing through-out the night, but for some reason, it never crossed his mind that Peter might actually feel the same way and want to go somewhere with this.   
Harley nodded back, before realizing that Peter probably couldn’t see that. “Okay..” he whispered, alternating between drawing little circles on his back and little hearts.   
“Okay?” He whispered, his voice muffled from where he was hiding.   
The blonde let out a low chuckle and hugged him tightly. “Yeah. Okay. I would love to kiss you any time- all the time. I think that would be pretty freaking awesome.”  
Peter let out a small laugh, exposing how nervous he apparently was. They both were such messes, they were pretty much made for one another. “Boyfriend?” He questioned, leaning back a little to try and look up at his best friend’s bright blue eyes.   
He nodded, his expression lighting up a little as he heard the term. God, he could get used to that, no matter how nervous he was of his sexuality. “Boyfriends.”

This led them to an abundance of kissing as they trudged to get ready for bed, as they both were completely exhausted at this point. Harley stole a kiss after Peter brushed his teeth, Peter kissed him quickly after he returned from getting a glass of water from upstairs, they both excitedly kissed each other after Harley had fixed their blankets. It was like they were making up for the past two years of missing out on this, all within that hour alone. Neither of them were complaining, though.   
They finally found themselves cuddled up to their respective pillows and their separate blankets, on their distinct sides of the mattresses. And they remained like that, until a couple of minutes into trying to fall asleep, Harley let out a very annoyed sound and aggressively turned on his side to face his best frie- his boyfriend! Peter sat up, looking extremely confused in the dark. The older boy just shoved his arms out of the blanket and made grabby hands towards him, too tired to properly portray what he wanted. Luckily, being best friends means you gain an understanding of silent languages, so he scooted out of his own blankets and into Harley’s reach. Harley let out a hum of satisfaction and pulled Peter closer. Peter found himself cuddling up to him like that was all he needed in the world. He felt more comfortable and safe and loved than he really ever had before, as he laid his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder and felt him tracing little patterns onto his back. The older boy’s breath got more steady as Peter felt himself drifting off to sleep, and he just thought about how absolutely perfect this night had turned out to be.   
Finally. After two damn years.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!! And hit me up with requests on my tumblr!! (emptycanoflizards !)


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